Monster
by LightWriter2013
Summary: Something evil is lurking in the shadows. A killer is on the loose. No one can stand in its way. Scattered SHIELD agents try to track it down, but to no avail. Will the merciless killer be caught? Or will it prevail to hold New York in its claws? (One-shot branch from Loki's Stray) Happy Halloween! (rated T for... creepiness? IDK- it seemed appropriate...)


_Monster… Monster…_

A shadow glared out through the darkness, eyes seeming to glow an eerie light blue that reflected off the shards of a glass bottle that was scattered across the ground. Small clouds of mist appeared in the air, rising up for a second before dissipating, and appearing again a moment later to repeat the action. It was cold—almost allowing frost to grow—but the shadow didn't shiver. Thick fur, barely visible in the night, held body heat amazingly well and kept any hint of the cold out.

_A monster, a monster… She's turned into a monster…_

Someone was huddled against a wall, loaded weapon glinting in the low light and poised to shoot at anything that was to approach. His head kept turning to look around the corner then quickly back to the dark alleyway, but he had no clue what was a pounce away, though he clearly could sense something.

He didn't stand a chance.

The shadow padded silently forward, suddenly appearing to the man who gasped and, in his surprise, nearly dropped his gun. A single bat of a large, black paw had the weapon spinning across the ground and into the darkness.

The creature looked into the man's wide, brown eyes and sneered. What used to be white fangs were dyed red and the fur around the mouth was crusted with dried blood, re-wet with new life-blood that dripped occasionally from its chin to the cement making a tiny "plip" sound when it hit the hard, cold surface.

_A monster, a monster… _

"N-no, p-p-please… s-s-stay a-away! S-stay away!" the man scooted backwards away from the ever-so-slowly approaching mammoth of a wolf, scraping his palms against the sharp, rough cement surface so small smears of blood were left behind. Large puffs of mist rose from his mouth. He was breathing hard out of fear, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The fear smelled good.

It smelled good.

The wolf pounced, pinning the man under its large paws. Claws were meeting flesh, making the man whimper which fueled a deep, wolfish laugh to rumble from the creature's throat. This was fun. Not like trying to keep everyone safe when they really weren't anyway. No. That was not power. That was not living. That was all a lie…

"Please…" the agent whispered, pulling the wolf's attention back to him. Its icy blue eyes met the brown again, this time finding tears dripping down dirty skin, leaving light tracks behind where the liquid picked up the grime and carried it away. The wolf leaned forward, holding eye contact while hovering mere inches away from the man's unshaven face. For several seconds the moment held, then a pink tongue flicked from the wolf's mouth and against the man's face and along the tear-tracks. The hopelessness tasted delicious…

_And it keeps getting stronger._

"How does it feel? One of the few remaining SHIELD agents… out here supposedly to stop me…" the wolf pulled its head back a little to better look deep into its victim's eyes, "And you're lying under me, completely at my mercy…"

"I h-have a f-f-famil-ly… C-Canine—"

"I won't listen to your pleas!" Canine barked, splattering blood onto the man's chin, "They are pathetic. Besides, you have no idea where your family is now, especially since no one has been able to document the bodies all over New York..." the man's face contorted in rage at the threat but Canine only laughed, "You think I'm joking? How would you know? I could have killed one of them… or all of them… hard to recall considering everyone I caught begged for mercy and acted like pathetic living lumps of flesh and bone…" At the comment the man pushed against her weight, but obviously to no avail. "Think about it this way," Canine hissed between her bared teeth, "If you die, and they are dead, you may see them again…"

"You're a monst—"

Canine lunged forward and crushed his throat before he could finish.

[…]

_If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?_

"Canine! CANINE!"

The wolf-girl stepped back deeper into the shadow cast by a large oak tree, nestling herself between two bushes.

"CANINE! CANINE WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Come on, Canine! Please?!"

Canine pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, pulling deeper into herself. She couldn't be found. Ever. They wouldn't understand…

"CAAAANIIIINE!"

She clamped her hands over her ears, shaking her head which only got her already messy hair tangled in the sharp branches around her. "No… No, go away…"

They can never find her.

"Just give up and go home… don't find me…"

The bushes suddenly shook violently and Canine leapt out, terrified, leaving behind mats of black hair in the thorny undergrowth.

"Canine!" Annie exclaimed.

"NO! NO, JUST- JUST GO AWAY!" Canine backpedaled just to run into the large oak tree. She tried to spin around and run, but a broken branch ripped through her shirt, halting her retreat while making pain spike through her shoulder.

"Canine! Thank goodness!" Tiara rushed up, followed quickly by Summer, and the two joined Annie to stand in front of their old friend. When Summer moved to help Canine free her shoulder, the mutant pulled away, shouting while subconsciously baring her teeth, "STAY AWAY FROM ME! GO AWAY!"

"Canine we want to help you!" Summer insisted, persisting to help the mutant.

"NO! YOU CAN'T HELP ME! LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She thrust forward and Summer was tossed backwards into the same bushes Canine had been hiding, "GO AWAY!"

_And if I seem dangerous, would you be scared?_

Immediately seeing what she had done, Canine ripped her shoulder free to collapse and huddle against the trunk of the tree, curling up to get as small as possible and hide her face from her overly-loyal friends. "J-just leave me alone… alone—please… alone…you can't help me…"

"Canine, just tell us what's wrong," Annie murmured, bending down to be more at Canine's level while Summer stepped forward, picking out leaves and twigs from her hair, to stand again in her place, "What's happened?"

"No… i-it wasn't my fault… it wasn't…" Canine shivered against the rough bark, trying desperately to… to… to do something… "It wasn't me… I… I just wanted… I just needed…"

"Yes? Come on, Canine…" Tiara wondered quietly, "What did you need? We believe you—we're your friends."

Canine shook her head, suddenly feeling very, very scared. Not for herself, but for the three girls. "—need you to go away… leave me alone… please… just leave… you'll get hurt…"

"We're perfectly safe, Canine," Summer assured the mutant, "Nothing will hurt us."

"No… Nooo… You're not safe. You're never safe!" Canine barked sharply, revealing her eyes to glare at the blond teenager, "Don't you get it?! You're never safe! Never! No matter what I do you're never safe!" suddenly Canine was on her feet, standing over her friends, "NOTHING I DO WILL CHANGE IT!"

"Canine… Is that what all this is about? Your fear that we'll get hurt?" Annie asked, with a low, soothing tone, "Canine, it's just life… we might get hurt a little sometimes, but that's normal. It's not like we'll be killed by a random guy—you wouldn't let that happen. And—"

"No, you don't understand! I can't! I CAN'T!" something rose up in Canine's throat, something angry… something evil… "I CAN TRY BUT I JUST CAN'T! I DON'T HAVE ANY POWER OVER THAT! I CAN'T KEEP YOU SAFE!"

"Canine-"

"SAFETY IS A LIE! THE ONLY TRUTH IS THE POWER OVER SAFETY!" Canine shoved Annie back, suddenly realizing she had gotten closer, her rage muffling the sound of the girl's shout of pain, "DEATH! IT'S THE ONLY POWER IN THIS LIFE!" Canine's voice dropped, not losing any of the previous anger so the tone turned darker and more evil, "I control death… Everyone's lives are at my mercy…"

_I get the feeling just because everything I touch isn't dark enough…_

"Canine you hurt Annie…"

"I rule the world now."

"Canine… Canine what are you doing?"

"Nothing does what I don't want it to do."

"Canine stop!"

"I choose who is hurt and who isn't!"

_A monster, a monster…_

"I will keep the ones I want safe safe!"

_I've turned into a monster…_

"Nothing will defy me!"

_A monster, a monster…_

"And I will kill anyone who tries to do so!"

_And it keeps getting stronger._

Blood stained the grass. Another layer of red was added to the wolf's teeth. Three bodies lay together in front of it, the life-blood seeping slowly out into the ground and around the large, black paws. The cold eyes stared at the carnage, letting no feeling escape their depths.

"I've turned into a monster… a monster…"

Somewhere outside the normal world, though still on its surface, Canine fell to her knees. "A monster…"

The wolf flicked its head, sending droplets of blood flying through the air.

"I- it- I killed them… but… I wanted to keep them safe…" Canine crawled forward, trying to push forward through the misty darkness to reach what she hoped was a bad dream, "I wanted to keep them safe…"

The wolf sneered, feeling the weak human spirit inside its head try feebly to regain control. With a mental shove the spirit flew away into the dark and fell silent, never to return.

"I have gotten stronger."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, Halloween is kinda getting to my head... Sorry if i freaked some of you out but I got the idea, Halloween is coming up, I couldn't help myself. This will not be affecting Keys and Doors to Friendship, I promise. *I kinda want a name for this evil wolf spirit thing though... you know so, if I happen to decide to create speedpaints or something I have a name for the character. If you have ideas please tell me. :) <strong>

**If you're reading this and haven't read Loki's Stray or Keys and Doors to Friendship, you should, otherwise it won't make as much sense as it could. ;) And I guess while I'm at it go ahead and read my other stories and don't be shy to check out my favorite stories and/or authors- you may like them too. Um... Definitely you should check out ImagineShine cuz she's a good friend and has lots of Avengers fanfic favorites you might like. Also check out my other friend ChickenBroccoli (see fave authors) cuz she's awesome and wants more people to see her stuff (though she's been grounded form fanfiction for a while so she's not updating very much for a little bit...)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading peeps! You're all so awesome! 3**

**-Light**

**(Reviews are much appreciated. Comments, name ideas(see above*), prompts for my other stories or for small continuations of this one(?), suggestions, anything!)**


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